The shutdown has resulted in a backlog and slowdown of the Federal Communications Commission certification process, which means devices cannot be released until they are fully certified.

The FCC is not currently clearing any devices because 98 percent of their staff have been furloughed, meaning that the 16,000 devices cleared annually will soon be clogging up the system.

Although previous rumours said the Nexus 5 had already been cleared, Michele Farquhar, a Washington-based partner with Hogan Lovells, said: "Increasingly it's going to have an impact on the widely known and available consumer products, depending on how long the shutdown lasts."

New rumours are now saying that we will not be seeing the Nexus 5 or Android KitKat until October 31 or November 1.

Artem Russavoski, from Android Police, has said that the Nexus 5 was never going to be released until later in the month.

Instead, he thinks that yesterday was merely the "technical acceptance" date, rather than the announcement date.

He added: "I'm starting to think Google will release an SDK preview ahead of the sources or any Nexuses and final KitKat features. Maybe this is what the rumors around the developer circles have been about regarding October 15th..."